When the manager had been complimenting her, Miss Yuan had her nose so high in the air she was about to start floating away in pride. She had good taste, to have picked such a beautiful hairpin. It was so much better than that silly bangle that Fifth Miss Su had picked. However, when she heard what the price was, Miss Yuan’s expression froze in place.
What? A hundred and fifty taels?! Why didn’t the manager simply steal the money from her? It was just a golden hairpin!
Miss Yuan had seen that this golden hairpin would definitely be more expensive than Miss Su’s jade bangle, but she thought that it would cost a hundred taels at maximum. She had begged for a hundred taels from her mother so she could go shopping today, and in addition to that, she had also brought thirty or so taels from her own savings.
Even a young lady of a first-ranked noble house would bring out only a little more than a hundred taels at most. How could she, of the declining House Ying, take out even more than them?
If they had been shopping at Jinshi Jewellery next door, the hundred and thirty taels she had brought would be more than enough. However, this was the high-class Jinshi Pavilion that they were perusing.
She had originally thought of showing up Miss Su and shaming her. In the Ying Estate, it was only this unmarried Fifth Miss who continued to be at loggerheads with her, the Eighth Miss. She was going to make Miss Su eat dirt today in public so that she would fight her less in the future. However, she hadn’t thought that she would be digging a hole for herself as well.
She only carried a hundred and thirty-something taels on her right now…
Miss Yuan’s expression turned ugly. Due to her conflicting emotions and present embarrassment, her face went red, then white. She opened her mouth and met with the manager’s eager gaze. Though she wanted to withdraw her previous claims, the words were stuck in her throat and wouldn’t come out.
Miss Yuan’s panicked gaze darted around the shop. Her personal maidservant’s expression was even uglier; she looked like she was about to cry from her anxiety. She even tugged at her master’s sleeve carefully.
If Eighth Miss really bought a golden hairpin for a hundred and fifty taels, Second Madam would surely scold her up and down. Most of the madam’s own accessories and ornaments cost less than a hundred taels.
Eighth Miss would simply get a reprimand and a lecture, but as her personal maidservant, she could be dragged out of the estate and sold.
Fifth Miss and Ninth Miss weren’t dumb; in a few moments, they quickly noticed the dilemma that Eighth Miss was in.
Ninth Miss Fu smirked and began to provoke her. “Ah, Eighth Sister hasn’t said anything. You can’t possibly be feeling embarrassed because you didn’t bring enough money, right? Well, if you didn’t bring enough, it’s understandable. We’re all unmarried ladies here, so it’s normal that we don’t have much money to spend. It’s fine if we don’t buy this and get something cheaper. The manager won’t laugh at us.”
The manager served the wives and daughters of nobles and important officials every day. She was good at observing other people’s expressions. Although she was disdainful of the group of girls before her, she didn’t show it on her face. She simply nodded and played along.
However, Miss Yuan felt even more keenly that she couldn’t get out of the trap she had sprung on herself. She was used to acting high and mighty. Before Chu Lian had gotten married, she had always been competing with Chu Lian in every aspect of their lives. Though Chu Lian was now married and no longer in the Ying Estate, there was still the main branch and the third branch to contend with. The master of the second branch, Chu Qizheng, had no achievements to speak of, so the ladies of the second branch had always kept their heads a little lower when the other branches were around.
This was also why Second Madam had given her a hundred taels to spend upon finding out that she was going shopping with the sisters of the main and third branches.
As tough as life was inside the estate, they couldn’t lose face out in public.
Miss Yuan’s chest was heaving up and down from the frustration brought about by Ninth Miss’s words. However, the fact of the matter was, she just didn’t have enough money, so she couldn’t get off this high horse once she had gotten on. She could only bite her lip until it bled and grind her teeth into dust. Miss Yuan raised her head and was about to admit that she hadn’t brought enough taels, when she spotted a familiar figure out of the corner of her eyes.
